$9M-worth Kenny Wallace drops eye-turning take on how NASCAR outlasted local tracks, pointing to Wisconsin racing

Former NASCAR driver Kenny Wallace recently shared his thoughts on the decline of local short-track racing in Wisconsin and talked about how NASCAR has survived the downfall.

$9M-worth Wallace (according to Celebrity Net Worth) shared his opinion on why local tracks have failed during the latest "Coffee with Kenny" episode. One big reason for the decline, he noted, was that young people today are not interested in cars.

"Is all Wisconsin racing pretty much by the wayside? Are the local racetracks gone? Do they not run local anymore? If so, that's extremely sad to me," Wallace said (04:02).

"NASCAR had enough money, and they've been hanging on long enough that it's turning. Now, we're no longer going to see the 250,000-person grandstands, but we're seeing NASCAR survive because it was big enough. Now, it's leveled out, and it's actually doing very well. However, a short track struggles when kids leave and don't want to go local racing anymore. These kids don’t even want a license," he added (06:30 onwards).

Wallace further said that kids spend more time playing video games and using their phones, which according to him has led to a decline in local racing.

Meanwhile, Slinger Speedway, the last major short track in Wisconsin, is changing ownership.

The quarter-mile paved oval track owner, Todd Thelen and his wife shared that a local buyer is set to take over. Thelen, 60, felt it was the right time to move and revealed that the sale should be final before the season starts on April 27.

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Kenny Wallace wished long-time sponsor for 65th anniversary

Kenny Wallace has had JEGS as a sponsor for 19 years. Its black and yellow colors have been on his cars since 2006. Wallace started competing in NASCAR in the late 1980s and retired in the mid-2010s. He had made the most starts (547) in the NASCAR Xfinity Series and won nine wins in the series.

Before debuting in NASCAR, Wallace competed in his JEGS late-model dirt car and also continued racing on dirt tracks after retiring from full-time racing.

JEGS began in 1960 as a small shop and grew into a $300 million company while staying true to racing. The 61-year-old congratulated JEGS on X last week and wrote:

"Congratulations @JEGSPerformance on 65 years 🏁"

Kenny Wallace worked as a NASCAR analyst for Fox Sports after retiring. He now hosts several podcasts on YouTube including 'Coffee with Kenny'.

JEGS High Performance extended its partnership with the St. Louis, Missouri native for the 17th year in 2023, supporting his channel and the 'Kenny Wallace Live' show. That year, JEGS also sponsored Wallace's car in the SRX Series finale at Lucas Oil Speedway.